Nunez, 3 friends to stand trial in fatal stabbing

SAN DIEGO – Four young men, including the son of former state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, were ordered Wednesday to stand trial in the fatal stabbing of a 22-year-old man near San Diego State University last year.

After five days of testimony, San Diego Superior Court Judge Cynthia Bashant ruled that prosecutors presented sufficient evidence during a preliminary hearing for the men to be tried.

Esteban Nuñez, 20; Rafael Garcia, 19; Ryan Jett, 23; and Leshanor Thomas, 20, face charges including murder and assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted, they could each be sentenced to more than 25 years to life in prison.

According to testimony, all four men were present at an Oct. 4 street fight during which Mesa College student Luis Santos was killed and three others were wounded.

Santos bled to death after he was stabbed in the chest.

“This was a concerted action by a group of four,” Bashant said Wednesday, referring to the altercation on 55th Street near Peterson Gym.

However, the judge said she believed only three of the defendants had knives, and that there was no evidence that Garcia had stabbed anyone. A knife allegation against Thomas was dismissed.

The judge noted that the question of whether the men acted in self-defense – as their lawyers contend – should be left for a jury to decide.

Paul Pfingst, who represents Garcia, said after the hearing that defense attorneys have a “very strong case for self-defense” at trial.

Deputy District Attorney Jill DiCarlo argued in court that Nuñez, Garcia and Jett drove from Sacramento on Oct. 3 and met Thomas in San Diego at Garcia's brother's home.

The group became angry after they were turned away from a fraternity party, the prosecutor said.

“They wanted to get into a fight,” DiCarlo said. “They wanted to cause trouble and they wanted to beat somebody up.”

Later, the foursome sat on a wall near Cox Arena and overheard a conversation between Santos and others nearby. Santos was “talking tough” and was boasting about carrying a gun, the prosecutor said.

The group of four confronted Santos and a friend as they walked away from Cox Arena, which led to the fight, DiCarlo said. According to testimony, Jett was described as the “ringleader” in the attack.

Afterward, Thomas drove the others back to Sacramento.

A friend of the defendants, John Murray, testified he drove Nuñez, Garcia and Jett to a river, where Nuñez placed a bag of clothing on the ground and what looked like a knife. When Jett poured gasoline on the clothing and set it on fire, Murray said he felt uncomfortable and walked away.

Defense attorneys argued that it was unclear who the aggressors were in the fight, and that most of the witnesses, including many of the defendants, were intoxicated.

The lawyers said that there is no way of knowing who stabbed Santos.

They noted that Jett was stabbed in his right leg. “The only time my client uses a knife is to come to Jett's aid and to defend himself,” said attorney Brad Patton, who represents Nuñez.